Saint George Monastery at Karydi
The Monastery of Saint George (Agios Georgios) in Karydi, province Apokoronas, is located about 2km east of the village Vamos, at the site where the settlement Karydi Agiou Georgiou was located. The monastery was abandoned for many years but was restored in 1996 and today it is operating normally. The monastery is unique to Apokoronas province and is one of the most interesting monuments of folk architecture in the prefecture of Chania.
The trademark of the monastery is the old olive oil factory (fabrica) with 12 arches, whose roof has collapsed. There are still four olive mills, of which only their bases survive because the millstones have been removed. The large size of the factory and the existence of four oil mills, the unique case throughout Crete, witnesses the large quantities of oil produced here.
Before the foundation of the monastery, the area was a settlement and fief of a Venetian nobleman, whose mansion is still preserved near the monastery. When the Ottomans came to Crete, they forced the locals to either abandon the village of Karydi or become Muslims. 4 families changed their faith to such an extent, that they eventually hated Christians. They asked the Turks to turn the Church of Saint George, located in the village, into a mosque. Thus, they imposed exhaustive taxes on the priest of the church so as to force him to leave the church and its land property. However, the priest granted the church to the monastery of Agia Triada Tzagaroli, which could then pay its taxes.
Since then, several monks of Agia Triada came to Karydi and built a new and larger temple with its current form. The property of the monastery grew rapidly, as many Christians donated their land to the monastery. Even some Turks ceded their property to Saint George.
Timeline
- 1577: Francesco Barozzi mentions that there is already a church of St. George at the current position of the monastery.
- 19th Century: The small church of St. George and the land become a dependency of the Monastery of Agia Triada of Tzagarolon. The new monks of the monastery build the new church of St. George and the monastery increases its property rapidly.
- 1829: Turkish authorities grant a license to produce oil to the monastery.
- 1863: The great oil production leads to the construction of the impressive olive mill of the monastery.
- 1900: The last monk leaves the monastery of Agios Georgios.
- 1905: Part of the monastery land is ceded to the farmers of the region and the monastery is deserted.
- 1922: The rest land is granted to the veterans of the Balkan wars and the Asia Minor campaign.
- 1989: The Ministry of Culture initiates the restoration of the monastery under the guidance of Bishop Irenaeus Galanakis.
- 1996: The monk Dorotheos moves to the monastery and continues its restoration.
